Building Bigger, Stronger Glutes

January 26, 2021
10:31 am

Building up your glutes isn’t just for the ladies (although this article works for both). Why do men need to train their glutes? Well for one, it’s to avoid having that flat ass when the rest of your body is so built up and well-rounded and second, it helps to improve other areas of your body, such as your legs, as they help you to perform better deadlifts, squats and lunges.

Having weak glutes can also lead to many posture related issues because, along with your lower back and core, they help to keep you standing up straight. Weak glutes = Weak posture. Here are some tips on building up your glutes.

Let’s build those glutes!

Squat

The king of all exercises. Squat works just about every muscle (to an extent) in your body. To really focus on your glutes, ensure that you are doing deep squats. Go as low as you can comfortably with a medium weight. To promote more glute activation, place the bar lower on your back (just below the traps). Perform 8-12 reps for 4-6 sets.

Deadlifts

You’re probably already doing deadlifts but you probably didn’t know that there’s a way to get your glutes involved in this exercise as well. You just have to make sure that when you are raising the weight, keep the weight close to your legs and really squeeze your glutes. Drive your hips forward and use your knees and your glutes to lift the weight.

Hip Extensions

The hip extensions are like the tricep kickbacks for the glutes. To perform, lie face down on a bench (or any raised surface) with your legs hanging off the edge, your toes should just be able to touch the floor. Now squeeze your glutes and raise one leg up explosively over your body and then lower it slowly. Repeat with the other leg. Perform 15-20(each leg) reps for 3-4 sets.

Glute Bridges

Glute bridges are a great exercise to isolate and strengthen your glute muscles. This isolation exercise ensures that your quads don’t come in to save the day. To perform a glute bridge, lie down with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, squeeze your glutes and thrust your hip upwards to create a ‘bridge’. Hold for a 3 count and lower. Perform 12-15 reps for 4-6 sets. To make it more challenging, you can put a barbell on top of your thighs and if you want to engage your core and hamstrings, place your feet on an exercise ball.